Return to the Castle
by toadster
Summary: A story I wrote after beating "Symphony of the Nights". Dunno if it would fit in continuity


Alucard sat in his chair, staring out the window. His pale features denied any real description, they were just blank. His eyes lie upon the hill a mile to the west, the place that the Castle Dracula was once erected. The castle appeared every 100 years, and the day drew neigh when it was to appear again. Worry slowly crossed his noble face, as he knew that his father would return with his castle. The line of Belmont grew thin, the last remaining one was an old man now, and no heir was apparent. He rose, his black cape flowing about him, "I shall go alone," he said, his voice deep and low.  
  
He walked to the wall, where his sword was mounted on a rack, unused since the last time his father appeared. Years apart from it weighed on his arm as he took up the familiar blade. It was weighted perfectly, although there was a notch from the last fight with his father. The blade was cracked also, as he had rapped it sharply on a stone, swinging it at a skeleton. His shield lie on the wall next to the sword, dented and worn. It beared the insignia of his father's house upon it, though the image was broken and damaged. He took them both, and slung them on his back, unused to their weight.  
  
He left his manor, and headed for the hill, anticipating the castle's return for that night. His father must pay, and nothing short of his life would suffice. The darkness pulled him in, as he took his wolf form to pass the distance. His wolven features were sleek and perfect. His eyes were blood red, his fur the darkest black. His shield and sword were across his back, even in his wolf form, although it did not encumber him at all. The distances swept past him, a blur to his vision. The hill fast approached, and he began to slow, panting from exertion. He turned back to his true form, slightly shivering in the cold of the night.  
  
The castle had not yet materialized, but he knew it soon would. He had time to rest, and regain his strenght for the gauntlet ahead. He thought over the rogue's gallery he fought last time. Death had spearheaded it all, engaging him, and stealing all his equipment. He fought through Death, Scylla, and Slogra, just to face his father. In the end, Alucard had emerged from the castle, alive for another day. The castle had de-materialized, and life had gone on for 100 years. He had retreated to his manor, to await the next arrival.  
  
His wait had finally reached an end. The castle materialized suddenly, with no warning. The gate was open, beckoning him to enter. He looked upon the familiar edifice, and braced himself for what might lie ahead. He remembered Richter's final words, that the war was over, yet Alucard knew it had yet to begin. The legacy of the Count had survived time unknown, and would be hard to forget. Alucard sighed heavily, unsheathed his sword, and entered the castle.  
  
Alucard stepped carefully, unknowing of what to expect. His father's castle was always different, not in structure, but in function. The myriad traps and creatures never duplicated, but always had common ties, although newer generations had become stronger. Alucard never expected that a zombie or other creature could be so strong, but he had adapted, and expected heavy resistance.  
  
He looked upon the entrance, dark and dusty. Candles lie unlit about the room suddenly went aflame. The scant ligt was enough to show Alucard the way to the inner rooms, but could show little else. So far no resistance, but Alucard was not going to become cocky, as many slayers died due to such foolishness. As he was about to go around a corner, he noticed a decayed corpse limping towards him. It's skin was in such an advanced state of decay that finding a gender was impossible. The only sounds emanating from it were sick groans, like rocks being rubbed together.  
  
The zombie had accomplices, in the form of an armored knight and a rotting crow. The three of them lumbered towards Alucard, who readied himself to fight. He pulled a small knife out of a fold in his robe, and threw it at the crow. It hit it's intended mark, sending the crow into a wall, where it stuck by its throat. The kinght took a swing at Alucard, who ducked and stabbed into a crack in it's armor, severing the ligaments in it's knee, bringing it to one knee, still slashing. Alucard deftly parried the swings, trying to find an opening to destroy the knight.  
  
While Alucard was busy with the knight, the zombie took the opportunity to get behind Alucard and attempt to bite him. The zombie lunged, and suddenly found another knife in his eye. It stumbled back, clawing at the knife. Finally, it pulled the knife out, while Alucard distracted with the knight. The zombie threw the knife with meager strength, and it stuck into Alucard's upper right arm, effectively stopping his swing. Alucard cursed in pain, and dodged the knights next swing. He pulled the knife out, and cast it aside. Cursing again, he leaped at the walking corpse and decapitated it, blade catching slightly on it's neck.  
  
The knight got to it's feet momentarily to take a swing for Alucard's neck, but fell over, a sword in it's back. Alucard spun, and saw the knight dead. "What? Who did that?" He noticed automaticly that a young female was standing behind the knight, attempting to remove the sword. She had a scowl on her face, and seemed aggrivated at Alucard's presence. "Getting slow in your old age, Alucard?"  
  
"How do you know who I am?"  
  
She pointed to a painting on the far wall. It was Alucard, and had a plate beneath it saying as such. "It does not take a genius to make the correlation. That and your style gave you away."  
  
"I see. Who are you?"  
  
"I am Isabella Renard, you knew my grandmother, Maria."  
  
Alucard paused for a moment. "Maria... is your grandmother?"  
  
"Was. She's been gone for 20 years. Look, we don't have time for this talk, are we going to get your father or not?"  
  
"No, I will face him alone. You should leave if you value anything at all."  
  
"Not on a bet. You can use the help, and I owe it to my family to kill Dracula."  
  
"You are a fool, I need no help, and your family is a dead clan. Just leave while you can." Alucard walked off, towards the next room. Isabella ran after him, and grabbed his shoulder, "you are a fool. You cannot beat him alone. You need my help for this."  
  
Alucard, tried to walk away, and Isabella stopped him again, standing in front of him. "Listen to me, Dracula is too strong, we must work together."  
  
"Get out of my way. You have no need to be here."  
  
"Fine, we shall see who gets to him first." Isabella walked off, angry and upset. Alucard walked into the adjoining room. On the walls were paintings of the Belmont family. Alucard looked at them suprised. "Why would he have portraits of his enemies?" The only thing to answer was a cloaked figure behind him. "To remember all the reasons for revenge." The voice answered, it's voice was barren of inflection and emotion.  
  
Alucard spun around, sword at ready, pulling out another small throwing knife. The figure was seemingly just a cloak, floating freely above the floor. It had a scythe on it's back, denoting who it was. "Death," Alucard said, readying himself again. Death removed his scythe from his back, and swept it at Alucard, who dodged it easily. "Sloppy for a creature like yourself." He taunted.  
  
Death threw his scythe at Alucard, who in turn parried it with his sword. He threw his knife with his free hand, and was not suprised to see it pass through the cloak. "Shit," he swore, "how am I going to get rid of this?" Death dove to recover his scythe, reaching beyond Alucard. He pulled it back attempting to cleave Alucard in half, but pulled his scythe through nothing but a mist. "Damn it," Death said, readying for Alucard's attack. Alucard became material again, and thrust his sword at death's hood, attempting to cleave the skull underneath. Death recoiled, and swung at Alucard's hand, catching nothing but more mist.  
  
"Fine Alucard, wear out your abilities now, and I shall just kill you later." Death cackled, and brought his scythe round to bear on where he guessed Alucard would appear. The mist reformed, and Alucard was ready for the strike. He pulled on the scythe, throwing Death off balance, and threw him into a wall. Breathing heavily, Alucard pulled a good deal of his white hair out of his eyes, and laughed. Cradling his already wounded arm, Alucard strode to where Death was collecting himself. He held Death's scythe in his hand, and brought it over his head to strike Death, but was stopped by a knife in the back. He turned to see winged man standing prone, laughing. "Your own knife, Alucard. It was foolish to throw it at a skeleton," the winged man laughed more, aggrivating Alucard. Death rose up, and threw a punch at Alucard, who merely ducked, and snapped Death's spine with his own scythe. "Fool."  
  
The winged man stared as Alucard did away with the robed spectre. He spun around, and took the knife from his bloody back. "You're next," he growled, holding the scythe. He put away his sword, and held the scythe with both hands, beckoning the winged man forwards. He swung the scythe, as if to taunt the creature, smiling cruely. The creature drew a sword and strode forward. "For a vampire, you sure leave a lot of openings for attack. The master will not be pleased that Death is gone, but I will be his new favored man. I, Abraxis, will be the new general of the master's army."  
  
"Don't count on it, fool. You are far too cocky to even lay a finger on me." Alucard reached into his cloak, and drew another knife. "Shit, last one," he said. He threw it at the winged creature, and it stuck firmly into his wing. "You bastard," the creature spat, pulling the knife out. Alucard saw the opening, and took it, thrusting his sword into Abraxis's stomach. Abraxis spat blood, and fell over, clutching the wound. He moaned, and looked up at Alucard. "You will never reach Dracula. He is too powerful to be reached." Abraxis spat blood again, and expired.  
  
Alucard looked around for a few of his knives. He recovered only two, but found an axe on the wall. He put Death's scythe on his back, and sheathed his sword. He inspected the wound on his arm, and saw that it was already inflamed. It was obviously going to be a hinderance, unless dressed now. Tearing off a piece of Death's robe, he wrapped the wound. Unable to inspect the wound on his back, he opted to just ignore it, and left. In the next room was the staircase to the second floor. Alucard carefully ascended them, wary of his father's traps.  
  
At the top he was met by a couple of zombies, which he dispatched with the axe he had before. His vision was blurring and fatigue was setting in. He started to stumble, when he was caught by the arm. he looked over to see Isabella holding him upright. "I told you that you would need help." She helped Alucard to a sitting position on the floor, and examined the wound on his back. "Shit," she said, worried. "This seems to be infected. Let me dress it for you."  
  
"No. I have to go now. There is no time to waste. I must find him now."  
  
Alucard stood up and pushed her aside. He made two steps forward, then fell again. Isabella stood over him, and laughed. "You are two weak to go on. Let me help you, for christ's sake." Alucard looked up, then loosed a sigh of resignation. "Fine."  
  
She dressed the wound, and used a medicinal herb on the infection. "You need rest, although there is not time for that here. I guess we just have to press on together." She picked him up, and helped him walk. They passed through the rooms of the castle, searching for the staircase that led up to Dracula's study. They met little hinderance, consisting of a few bats and zombies. Isabella removed most of them with her knives, and then she helped Alucard again. Eventually Alucard began to feel well again, and started to walk on his own again.  
  
The castle had barely any defenses, which bothered Alucard. Why would his father be so meagerly defended? It made no sense, there was no one around. Even the formerly plentiful zombies were diminished. The sense was completely gone. Alucard wondered why the only defenses were at the opening parts of the castle. Isabella trudged on, not realizing the missing defenses. Alucard resolved to keep his eyes open for any clue as to the lack of monsters.  
  
They rounded a corner and caught a glimpse of the staircase they were seeking. They were about to make their way to it, when a minotaur crashed into the room. His furred hands held a battle axe high, ready to strike. Alucard took Death's scythe off his back, and brought it to bear on the minotaur. The creature snorted and swung at Alucard, who jumped over the sloppy attack. Isabella made a strike for the beast's eyes with her knives, but was thrown into a wall, where she slumped down, barely concious. Alucard dove at the minotaur, and swiped at it's legs. The minotaur moved to block, as Alucard had expected. He pulled his axe, and threw it at the beast's head. It struck it's mark, and sunk in deep. The minotaur wobbled, dropped it's axe, and fell over. Alucard took back his axe, and went to Isabella, who was still by the wall.  
  
He crouched down in front of her, and tried to bring her to conciousness. She barely moved, only able to open her eyes. Alucard looked her over, and found that her head was bleeding profusely from a gaping wound at the top. "You were right, Alucard. You did not need me." She coughed blood, and shook her head. "Forget me. Go, find Dracula, finish his blasted life. Go, now." Alucard looked at her and shook his head at her. "No. I will not leave you behind."  
  
"Damn it, go. There is no use trying to bring me along, I would only slow you down."  
  
"I will be back for you."  
  
Alucard turned and walked up the stairs, unable to look back. He knew his father lie somewhere ahead, and that it was inevitable to not find any resistance. He took a deep breath and turned into mist again, and floated through the halls, seeking his father's study. The rooms floated by, until a door with a light coming out from under it was seen. Alucard drew back his normal form, and unsheathed his sword. He took the doorknob in his hand, and turned it, throwing the door open.  
  
Inside was a man with black hair and a flowing black and red robe. "Father, your time has come," Alucard said, sword in hand. "Ah, Alucard, how did I know you would show your face. Pity about the girl, as she cannot join us now. But I will bring you to her, as it seems you want to die anyway."  
  
Alucard swung at his father, who promptly turned to mist. Alucard drew back, and watched for his father to reappear. Dracula materialized just out of sword distance, and pulled a throwing knife. He threw the knife into Alucard's knee, tearing several ligaments. Alucard roared in rage, and pulled the knife out. Staggering to his feet, Alucard drew Death's scythe, and swung at his father, who dodged. Anticipating such an event, Alucard pulled his axe, and swiped at Dracula's arm, cutting deep into it. Alucard drew back, leaning heavily on his uninjured leg. Rising up, he put his shield on his arm. Dracula drew his sword, and lunged at Alucard, who used his shield to throw the Count off balance. Alucard threw himself at his father, and drew a the knife that was in his leg.  
  
"It ends here."  
  
"It will never end, Alucard. Humans are going to be eliminated. Tonight, a hundred years from now, a thousand, it does not matter."  
  
"I will always fight you." Alucard shoved the knife into his father's throat, and severed his head with his sword. The Count twitched, and died. His body turned to dust, and lost all form. "Another hundred years, father. Then we shall continue this war."  
  
Alucard picked up his effects, and slowly made his way out of the room. He wandered through the now-empty halls, and returned to Isabella. He looked at her, and knew right away that she was dead. He picked up her body, and carried her out of the castle. The immense castle faded from view, gone for another century. Alucard looked at where it was, holding Isabella's body, and knew that the war was far from over. Dracula would never die permanently, but return as man grew, but there would always be a protector.  
  
  
  
Fin  
  
~Lestat~ 2002 


End file.
